The Hear! Hear! and Humbug! Awards

In honor of the season and the end of a tumultuous political year, the Spotlight hereby announces its coveted “Hear! Hear!” and dreaded “Humbug!” candidate awards for 2012.
The Hear! Hear! Award goes to those candidates who exhibited a spirit of optimism, those intelligent and forthright individuals who tried to address real problems in a serious and equitable manner.
The Humbug! Award is earned by those who were cynical or purposefully ignorant, or who put politics and personal ambition above all else.
The envelopes, please…
Barack Obama: Hear! Hear! The president ran a masterful campaign and concentrated rightly on the needs of the working and middle classes, the people who actually make this country work.
In his first term he saved the economy, ended one war and set a deadline for a second, and was optimistic and smart.  He’s not in the class with Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Delano Roosevelt- yet – but he’s got four more years.
Mitt Romney: Humbug! The former Baystate governor took cynicism to a new high (or low) when he was recorded telling a roomful of wealthy donors that nearly half the nation’s voters are “takers,” people who receive government benefits and do not contribute their fair share.
Few other presidential candidates in recent history have so strongly identified with just the wealthy. Even Ebenezer Scrooge cringed.
Elizabeth Warren: Hear! Hear! She parlayed her national profile as a defender of common people and bane of greedy corporate interests into a U.S. Senate seat and then wrangled a spot on the Banking Committee to try to put her beliefs into legislative action.
If there’s an anti-Romney, she’s it.
Scott Brown: Humbug! He defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley in the special senate election three years ago, but could not come up with a cohesive argument for reelection and lost to Warren.
His claims to be the most bi-partisan senator didn’t convince Massachusetts voters and the Tea Party hordes who strongly supported him last time just couldn’t get out the vote. But he’ll be back.
Andrea Nuciforo: Humbug! The former state senator and outgoing register of deeds jumped too early into the race for Congress, setting up a potential primary contest with popular incumbent Cong. John Olver, who, after redistricting, chose not to run for reelection.
Nuciforo upset a fair portion of the local Democratic establishment who otherwise might actively have supported him and then stumbled badly once the race got going. He needs to re-read the fable of the tortoise and the hare.
Bill Shein: Hear! Hear! This writer and political activist brought a solid progressive voice to the contest for Congress, but, like Nuciforo, was no match against Cong. Richard Neal, who started with the City of Springfield as his political base and grew his support from there. Numbers matter.
Richard Neal: Hear! Hear! A journeyman legislator and former mayor, he was the clear favorite to win the newly configured 1st District seat and he did.
As a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he’s well positioned to secure federal funds for the district. These numbers matter, too.
William “Smitty” Pignatellii Hear! Hear! His energy, positive attitude and strong constituent work allowed him to easily defeat Green-Rainbow Party candidate L. Scott Laugenour in the only Berkshire race for state representative. Has he ever missed a community potluck supper, non-profit open house or critical local meeting?
L. Scott Laugenour: Hear! Hear! He was the only GRP candidate in the state to take on an incumbent state representative and, even though he lost badly, he brought an important perspective to the race, stressing a fairer system of taxation and strong environmental protection.
But he couldn’t beat the popular incumbent and, if you’re too liberal for The Berkshires, where do you go from here?
Hear! Hear! to the winners.
And, to the humbugs, even Scrooge changed his ways. You can, too.

Posted by Bruce Garlow on December 27, 2012. Filed under Berkshire Beacon Hill Spotlight,Columns,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry